Date Palm from Dates

I've read you can start Date Palms from the seeds from fresh dates. Anyone ever try? Anything special I need to do?

Thanks!

So far this is the best page I've found:

http://www.personal.u-net.com/~treetops/germinat.html

Will try it and let you know how it goes.

eje...did you try it out yet? Any germination?
Just curious.

Hi Horseshoe,

I did try it and it's worked well, so far. I'm using seeds I got from Black Abada Dates at the farmer's market near me, so I think they are pretty fresh. Plus, I guess they are California Natives. Out of 4 date seeds, within 3 weeks I've had 2 sprout roots. Last week I moved them to 4 inch pots with seed starting mix and am now crossing my fingers and hoping for leaves.

YAY! Glad to hear it. Did you use the "vermiculite in a box" recommended at the link you gave above? (Or was it perlite? I forget.)

The link suggested Vermiculite. I didn't have any and used Perlite instead. In another forum http://davesgarden.com/t/412428/ , someone suggested the old moist paper towel trick would probably work as well. Probably any relatively sterile not too moist medium will work.

Hi everyone! Just became a subscriber and found this about date palms. My mother-in-law just gave me some fresh dates yesterday! Wow! How timely could this be. I'm going to try this and see what happens.

ACHunter47, WELCOME TO DG!

Good luck with the dates. Let us know how they do for ya! (Take pics if you can!)

Happy gardening!

My date palm plants are about 9 months from germination and are just putting up their third leaf.

I know we don't get the sort of heat date palms really like, so they may be a bit slow.

I will try to remember to post a photo.

(They are not very exciting at this point, just look like two big blades of grass.)

eje, that would be a good place to start showing their growth habit though!

Hey Horseshoe,

Thanks for the info and the link on getting the date palms started from seed. I'll keep ya'll posted on how they do. They will be going in to the perlite today, been soaking for 24 hours now.

It's still very hot here in Alabama so maybe I'll be successful with them.

Two things... when you have a waxy fruit like the date, it is always worth washing the seeds (pits) thoroughly in a mild detergent solution as the remains of the fruit can act as a germination inhibitor.
Secondly, keep the temperature up when germinating - over 75 deg F.

I have frequently had good results when sowing them ... it's the growing on that is difficult in this part of the world... not sufficiently consistently warm in summer.
Mike

I bet you thought I forgot!

My two date palms are about 9 months from germination now and are just putting up their third leaf (the first leaf is really small and hard to see in the photo).

I actually had 3 out of 4 dates sprout. One I gave to some friends a few months back. Will have to check with them to see how it is doing.

Please ignore the deck which is badly in need of staining and sealing. I really need to get to that this month or next.

Do you think it's too late to start mine? I just got a few from the health food store last week and OMG they were WONDERFUL!! So I thought about maybe trying to grow them. I did wash the seeds well and they've been in my window drying since.

If I DON'T start them until spring, should I just try storing them like most other seeds? (in a paper envelope)

Thanks!
So glad I stumbled on this thread!
Carole

Cajun...I'd be tempted to start them now, especially if you're gonna do them in pots or cell packs. Since they grow so slow you might as well get em going. I'm sure you can find a place in the house to babysit them thru the winter, eh?

I agree with Horseshoe, start them now and then keep them in a sunny window after they sprout.

I really wouldn't expect to get dates from them, though.

At least any time soon (6-10 years). See link below for more information about date palms and dates.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/Date.html

Makes a great conversation piece, though.

:-)

This message was edited Sep 15, 2004 11:37 AM

Cool. I will do. Thanks for the info and advice.
And I'd only be growing it for interest to be sure.
Well that and to share the experience with my 7 year old daughter.